Chapter Thirty-One
Ian
I walked inside to look for Eliza’s bag but couldn’t find it anywhere. I started to panic as I looked around. Had someone stolen it? I started looking around frantically and then breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw Mae at the other side of the room with it. She saw me, grinned, and held it up.
“Eliza’s bag,” she said. “I saw it sitting there and thought you guys had gone home.”
“We were about to leave. She . . . uh . . . didn’t want to interrupt you,” I said. I didn’t want Mae to think that Eliza had told me all about John. But Mae didn’t seem to mind. She just grinned.
“Good thinking,” she said. “Listen, thanks for coming tonight. It meant a lot to Eliza.”
“Really? Well, it was great. And you guys did an amazing job. I can’t believe you pulled this entire thing off so well. I think you know what your true calling in life is.”
“No wonder Eliza is always telling me how nice you are. Thank you.”
“She is?”
Mae laughed. “Oh yeah. She thinks the world of you. And I really appreciate you being there for her. Especially during this tough time.”
“Well, I can say the same about you. She loves you. Anyway, I better go. She’s waiting outside. It was nice seeing you again, Mae.”
“You too. And hey, before you go, do you have any idea why Eliza’s heels are in this bag? I opened it to make sure it was hers. Is she walking around barefoot?”
I laughed. “Nah, she’s wearing sneakers. She brought them to change into.”
Mae burst out laughing. “That sounds like something she’d do. Okay, well, enjoy the rest of your evening,” she said and winked at me.
I could see why Eliza was such good friends with her. The two of them were very similar. I was grateful to have found the bag and quickly made my way outside. I was itching to get home and be with Eliza. The twenty minutes in the coat room had been almost too much for me to handle.
The last thing I expected to see when I walked out was a man grabbing Eliza by the arm. She jerked back, and he reached out for her again. I ran up to her.
“What’s going on?” I asked Eliza.
She looked terrified. “It’s Raymond.”
“Raymond? What the hell are you doing here?” I asked. So this was Raymond. He looked like a clean-cut California guy with teeth that were far too white and perfect. The only thing that was running through my head was smashing them to pieces.
“Excuse me? Who are you?” Raymond asked. He took a step closer to me, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath.
I stepped back and regarded him. “I’m her boyfriend. And you are not welcome here.”
Raymond looked at Eliza. “Boyfriend? Since when do you have a boyfriend? I thought I was your boyfriend? Is this why you moved to Arizona? So you can be with this guy?”
It was the first time I’d used the term boyfriend, and I wasn’t sure if it was the best time. But there was no way I was going to let this idiot think he could get away with what he was doing. And anyway, we were practically going out. We just hadn’t labeled it yet.
“No. I left California to get away from you. But I met Ian while I was here. And he’s everything that you’re not. But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that you came all the way here to harass me. We’re not even going out anymore. I told you that. I left you.”
“And now you’re with this guy?” Raymond spat. He took a step toward me but stumbled.
“Dude, you’re wasted,” I said.
He turned away from Eliza to look at me. “What does it matter to you? She was my girlfriend before you showed up.”
“No,” I said, moving toward him despite the stench. “She broke up with you because you hit her. How dare you hit a girl? Especially Eliza.”
“Oh yeah? Should I hit a boy then? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Seriously? You really want to go there?”
Raymond laughed. “You scared? Because I’ll hit you.”
Then Raymond came forward and threw a punch my way. He would’ve gotten me if he hadn’t been so drunk. I saw his fist coming and stopped it in time. Then I punched him back. I hit him square in the mouth, just as I had wanted to. Then I did it again. He fell back when I hit in the nose.
“Ian! Stop!” Eliza screamed next to me.
I blinked. I’d forgotten that she was standing there. In my rage, the only thing that I had noticed was Raymond. And hitting him had felt good. But Eliza was staring at me in horror, and I suddenly realized that I’d taken it too far.
“We should call the cops,” Eliza said.
“Why? He’ll be fine. I just punched him.”
“He’s passed out.”
“Exactly. That’s all he is. But it’s mostly because he’s drunk. If he wasn’t drunk, he’d be trying to punch me right back now. You don’t need to call the cops.”
A couple came out of the hall and gasped when they saw the scene in front of them. I groaned. All I wanted to do was to take Eliza’s hand and walk away. The last thing that I wanted to do was to make things worse, and to put the spotlight on me. Especially now that I was the president of the club while my father was ill. He wouldn’t take too kindly with this sort of publicity. And I knew that if the media found out, I wouldn’t just be Ian Maxwell. I’d be Ian Maxwell—president of the notorious motorcycle club. The media always had to make things juicier than they really were. I turned around when I heard the sound of Eliza’s voice. She’d just called the cops.
“Why did you do that?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell them that you were protecting me. I just . . . well, I couldn’t just leave him here.”
I didn’t say anything. I thought about running away, but I knew that would only make things worse. So I waited with Eliza in silence until the police showed up only moments later. The cop got out his car and shook his head when he saw me standing next to Raymond, who was only just starting to come around.
“Have you boys been drinking?” a cop who looked like he had eaten way too many doughnuts over the years asked.
I almost responded by asking him if he’d been eating, but thankfully realized how unwise that would be. I shook my head. “Not me, sir. But this guy has. He came to this party to harass his ex-girlfriend.”
“And you decided to turn that into a fight,” the fat cop said. “Right, well, there’s no point standing here. Get in the back seat. I’ll get this idiot in the back with you.”
“Wait!” Eliza said, but it was too late.
It wasn’t the first time I’d been in the back of a cop car, and it wasn’t the first time that I’d gone to jail. Unfortunately the moment one of the other cops saw me, he decided that he wasn’t going to hear me out until the next day. Thankfully, he didn’t put me in with Raymond. I wondered briefly where they had put him, but I decided that I didn’t care. As long as he was far from Eliza. I was sure that they could smell the alcohol on his breath, anyway.
The following morning, I was woken up by doughnut cop telling me that I was free to go.
“I am? Why?” I wasn’t sure why I was even asking that question. The only thing that I should have been saying was thank you and then running the hell out of there. But still, I was curious.
“Well, someone posted your bail.”
“Really?”
“Yep. You have some luck on your side this time.”
“What happened to Raymond?”
“Who?”
“Raymond, the other guy that was with me. The drunk one.”
“Oh, he’s still here. We’re going to make him stay the day and then send his ass right back to California. We’ve got no reason to keep him.”
I smiled. That was one good thing, at least. I grabbed my things and headed out. There was nothing quite like the feeling of walking out of jail, even if I was only in there for one night. I wondered who had gotten me out so quickly.
“Eliza,” I said when I saw her standing there. “You bailed me out?”
She nodded. Her eyes were puffy, and I could see that she had been crying. It made me sad to see her like that, but I was too angry to go up to her and hug her.
“Of course I did. I’m so sorry.”
“You should’ve listened to me. I told you that Raymond was going to be fine. He was just drunk. And you know that I have a reputation with the cops that I’m desperately trying to get rid of. I was only sticking up for you, and yet you still went against what I asked for.”
“I know. I know. That’s why I’m here. I’m really sorry. Come on, let’s go home,” she said.
I shook my head. “No, I’m going home alone. Thanks for bailing me out.” Then I walked out the doors without looking back at her. I’d spent all night with her at a party that I didn’t even enjoy. I’d dressed up for her. And right when she needed me the most, I’d stuck up for her. And still, she got me arrested. I needed to get home and get my bike. The only thing that was going to help me at that moment was some fresh air and a very long bike ride.